Age Related Hearing Loss is Caused by Damage to Hair Cells

Researchers here provide evidence for age-related deafness to be caused by the loss of viable hair cells in the inner ear, rather than other possible mechanisms. As pointed out, this is perhaps the best outcome for such a study, given the numerous approaches to hair cell regeneration or hair cell replacement that are underway in the scientific community. While it is interesting to compare this result with earlier data suggesting that hair cells survive in old individuals, but are disconnected from the brain, it nonetheless boosts the prospects for near term reversal of age-related hearing loss. Scientists have demonstrated that age-related hearing loss, also called presbycusis, is mainly caused by damage to hair cells, the sensory cells in the inner ear that transform sound-induced vibrations into the electrical signals that are relayed to the brain by the auditory nerve. Their research challenges the prevailing view of the last 60 years that age-related hearing loss is mainly driven by damage to the stria vascularis, the cellular "battery" that powers the hair cell's mechanical-to-electrical signal conversion. Researchers examined 120 inner ears collected at autopsy. They compared data on the survival of hair cells, nerve fibers, and the stria vascularis with the patients' audiograms to uncover the main predictor of the hearing loss in this aging population. They found that the degree and location of hair cell death predicted the severity and pattern of the ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs